I just bought an '03 350Z Touring (my first car) and being somewhat of an audiophile, I'm looking to replace the Bose setup with something that, mmm, doesn't... suck. The problem is this: I'm looking to just replace all of the speakers (not looking to put in a sub for now), but I really don't know where to begin, being as this will be my first car audio project.

I'm not looking to fabricate anything, just simply replace and rewire the system. And as a given, I want a crisp, powerful sound. I would like to keep the stock look, if not be able to use the stock door panel covers, but...

Most importantly, I want to keep a VERY clean look without modification. I believe it's called a stock-like stealth?

My budget is around $1000 at the moment. Any advice and/or previous install references would be great!

Much appreciated and thanks in advance!

 

I too went with a stealth look but my budget was a bit more. If you're just working the speakers at that $1000 price you'll get good quality sounding speakers.

Before the (door and kick panel) pod people get here I will recommend putting the best quality set of components that you can listen to and audition into your front doors. Spend as much as you need to truely please YOURSELF - not the salesperson or someone here. Get the set that sounds the best to you. Buy a 1" mounting ring which goes inside the door and you'll be able to fit all but the deepest 6.5" speakers in there. I went with some that were too deep for a 1" thick ring so I made my own which was 1.25" thick.

For the rear I went with a pair of 10" subwoofers which give me plenty of wonderful and accurate bass for the progressive rock that I listen to. I mounted them in a Zenclosure under the strut bar box. Stealth? You bet. With the hatch closed you have to get yourself up above the car and look into a small little angle to see the speakers. From the front nothing looks out-of-place as the enclosure's black carpet is a perfect match for the factory carpet.

If you have any money left you can now add a set of good speakers to the 6.5" rear mounting. I went with some $120 a pair speakers there where I spent more than twice that on the front ones as I put the rear speakers on just about 20% volume.

To complete my stealth approach I mounted the 6-disc CD-player in one of the back map pockets, put the amplifiers in a custom rack in the subwoofer pocket, put a 7" screen behind the dash cubby door, and used a single DIN radio with a fold out 6.5" screen and even once folded inside it has a detachable face plate.

Looking at the car from the outside the only hints that something is different is there's a tiny GPS antenna in the center of the dash ... but it's black and matches the dash.

 

First of all, thanks for thanks for the response!

I've also heard that it's important to drop the best component speakers that money can afford into the setup.

Paul, do you know the exact dimensions of your component speakers? I was looking online but I'm not sure what's exactly considered too deep or not for a 1" mounting ring.

If you wouldn't mind, could you list the speakers that your setup consists of? I may be interested in possibly simulating a setup like yours if you say it's pretty stealthy. More money is readily available, but was originally for some performance/appearance mods, but I can drop a few hundred more into the audio if I need to...

Thanks again!

 

zenclosures has a new Z roadster box

 

If it gives you more budget for the fronts leave the rears stock, amplify the front sound stage and your subs. I would only power the stock rears off the headunit as well. Besides the rear speaker are
1 blocked by your seats
2 less than 2 feet from your subs

When you get some more expendable cash if it isn't sufficient, upgrade later.

 

Go to 6th ave electronics On rt.46 , theywill hook you up.

 

My front speakers are Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 which were $249 a pair from www.woofersetc.com. Their mounting depth is 2.75" so I would guess you could mount a 2.5" deep speaker in there with just a 1" spacer. I off centered my speakers from the stock hole to take better advantage of the depth of the stock speaker grill. Once you get the door panels off you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

Would if be a bad idea to mount Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1's in the front door panels as well as the two rears?
And do the tweeters that come with the Kappa Perfect mount with the stock panel or is another method of mounting required?

Also, what size speaker or type of speaker should I replace the larger stock Bose speaker with behind the driver's seat with? Would an Infinity Kappa Perfect 10.1 fit?

 

It would be very difficult to build an "audiophile" system with only $1000 bucks, especially in a Z.

 

Well, I just reworked my budget...
I can drop about $1500 total into a new system.

 

about 8000 dollars later and I am not satisfied....

My best effort to date has been with A/D/S comps in kick panels with two BA 10s under the strut.

If had to do it all over again. I wouldn't. Burn and learn I guess?

 

I have an 03 touring. I went with FOCAL 165V1's for my highs and mids. I also used NAZAR's door pods, this investment is a huge improvement for the system. My subs are 10in. Fosgate and the box is TC Custom fiberglass. I upgraded to a VALOR flip out DVD player and used Fosgate 4002 4 channel amp for my highs and mids and a 2002 2 channel for my subs. ANyway, here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about. Hope this helps you. By the way FOCALS are the best high end speakers I have heard.

 

A few more

 

I'm liking the look of the NAZAR's door pods, but I can't seem to find any info about them online. Would you be able to direct me to the appropriate site?

 

A short brief on my background;
25 years as a professional sound engineer and installer. You can visit my company online at www.wcsl.org
We do high end pro audio, not car installations. I used a pro installer to put in my componants, I tuned the system.
You can see some shots of my Z install at www.wcsl.org/z

OK, now on to the post. I wanted to do exactly what you want to do. Stealth, audiophile (for the money), etc.
I spent around $1500 as well. Here's what i've learned in my process;

1. Shop for the best deals on your componants.
2. A good installer is worth his weight in gold. if your good, do it. If your at all unsure, don't learn on your Z.
3. I used Infinity mids and tweets in the front. I also put the 2 way infinity's in the back. If I had it to do over, I would have used the amp channels to bi-amp the front and used the stock speakers in the back for my nav voice. The rear speakers do little for you other than bluring your sound stage. I used a small speaker mounted under the passenger dash for the nav voice.
4. I used a basslink in the stock position. Today there are alot of other better alternitives under the strut bar. The basslink achives stealth and sounds good. Under strut bar sounds better for the same money but eats room and is visible. Your choice.
5. The glove compartment was made for amps! Use a good brand. Zapco, etc. The amp will determin how loud, clean, and noisy your system is.
6. Good heads are pretty cheap these days. You can get a great head under $500. I choose Alpine. Shop.
7. Try to get tweeters that rotate in thier mount. The Z has a big problem acoustically with highs reflecting off the windshield. You want to direct them if possible back away into the cabin.
8. make shure you have someone who knows what their doing tune the system. This is just as important as the quality of the installer, and it may not be the same person! These are two different skills.

Hope this helps.

 

An audiophile needs more than $1500 bucks to create a stereo to his liking. My recommendation is that if you're a true audiophile then shop around and wait when you have a slightly larger budget. Otherwise you'll be making decisions based on the monetary value and will be changing things after the fact and wasting money.

On another note, most forget the little things, like nice RCA's and proper guage wiring with as few to no "connections" in between the source and the speakers.

And the glove box is NOT made for amps. Unless you're putting fans in there as well, you're creating an "oven effect" and the amps will get quite hot and increase the risk of overheating.

 

www.wickedcas.com

You can call me for the my350z speacial.

 

I do agree, the door pods make a great difference in sound quility, just make sure that you seal the back to prevent outside noise from entering the back of the speakers. I have Infinity referance and have custom door pods that are sealed. It is night and day difference then just bing in the stock location. Here is a picture of my setup. Some good advise, dont cheap on audio components. If you dont have the funds up front, get them in stages.

 

Agreed. And really like the look of your install!